Bojangles Just Made the Most Deliciously Dumb Chicken Ads Ever

Big Bo mascot hits the streets

Big Bo, the Bojangles chicken mascot, has been following me everywhere I go. Am I losing my mind? Nah, it’s just a whack-job ad campaign for the eatery, introducing chicken tenders to Atlanta.

First, Bo stalks some woman on the street who refuses a free sample:

Next, a dude appears to get a tad to smitten with Bo:

Finally, Bo’s running from the law. Lock that freak up!

“Don’t Be Chicken” succeeds by taking its premise just far enough without going overboard. There’s some tension too, always key to great comedy. That woman pulls a great distressed face during Bo’s pursuit—and who can blame her?

“Tenders are everywhere, so just having a killer new product wasn’t going to cut through,” says Ryan Boblett, creative lead at Fitzco, which developed the ads. “And in Atlanta, chicken loyalty is serious. We leaned straight into that. Big Bo’s not selling anything. He’s just calling you out and letting you decide how to respond.”

As for the shoot, “We spent the day pulling up to nearby chicken spots and daring customers to try something better,” he recalls. “The energy was electric and it drew a crowd fast. A rival employee got so distracted they forgot they had a job to do. Then the cops rolled through to check things out. That ended up being a surprise cameo, and made the final cut.”

The campaign runs on social, CTV, broadcast, iHeart Radio, influencer content and OOH.